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Bowl Streaker!

In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 basic techniques employed. You want to be able to hop between tactics almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of building a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to barricade in your opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable strategy at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere between your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game continues.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your challenger tosses an early 2 and moves one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you are able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is then in serious trouble taking into account that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!

The Backgame

This plan is where you have two or higher pieces in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It should be employed when you are extremely behind as this strategy greatly improves your chances. The strongest locations for anchors are towards your opponent’s lower points and either on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is integral for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your opponent is getting their checkers home, taking into account that you do not have other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your opponent gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!